TODAY’S WORD FOR THURSDAY JULY 18. 2013.
PREPARE
DEFINITION:
To put in proper condition or readiness;
to make suitable for a specific purpose.
SCRIPTURE:
Do your best to present yourself to God
as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed. II Timothy 2:15
Therefore, prepare your minds for
action. I Peter 1:13NIV.
KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:
Early on we worked at training our
children to prepare for the things that were part of their daily lives. It
seemed to us that each child picked up and learned the trait of being prepared
in most areas of their lives. They learned to see the importance of being
prepared every day with their homework that they brought home from school. They
always were prepared for their sporting events. Their competitive natures
seemed to drive them to be prepared in most areas of their lives.
We also noticed that every week they
would memorize our family scripture verse. They knew that at the end of the
week we would have each one recite the verse and they all were prepared and
recited it well. It was important to them not to be just mentally and
physically prepared but to be spiritually prepared.
The scriptures give us many examples of
the preparation that God required of His children. We will discuss one of these
examples today.
After God had miraculously parted the
Jordan River so the Children of Israel could enter Canaan, the Israelites were
anxious to conquer the surrounding nations so that they could occupy the land
God had promised them. God however said "Time out --- not so
fast!" God did not want them to
rush into Canaan without being prepared.
The first thing God had them do in
preparation was to set up the memorial of twelve stones. God had them do this
to remind them that it was God who parted the Jordan River and that they were
serving a God of might and power.
The second thing that God asked the
Israelites to do was to circumcise every male. When God made His covenant
(promise) with Abraham that He would make him the father of a great nation, God
established that circumcision would be a symbol of cutting off the old life and
beginning a new life with God. This was a sign of belonging to God.
The third thing that God required them
to do was to celebrate the Passover which was a celebration of the night in
Egypt that the angel of death passed over the Israelites homes sparing the
lives of their first born. God wanted them to remember the mighty miracles of
God that He had done in bringing them out of Egypt to the Promised Land.
There was special significance to these
three steps of preparation that God asked the Children of Israel to do. He
wanted to establish the importance of worshipping Him. They were to trust in
God and in Him alone!
They were to serve God and no other gods
because they were His chosen people. They were set apart from the rest of the
world and belonged to God.
They were to recognize that God is
faithful and fulfills His promises thus He is the one that should receive the
glory.
Just as God wanted the Israelites to
take time out and prepare for the challenges that were before them, God wants
us to take time out to prepare each day for the challenges we will face in
life. Taking time for God each day is just as important today as it was in the
days of Joshua.
We coached the soccer and baseball teams
that several of our children were playing on. In order to be adept in the game
we required the team to practice on a regular basis each week so that they as a
team would be prepared for the game on Saturday. Our teams always did well and
that was because they came to each game ready and prepared. Each one knew their
role and the importance of team work. They knew what to do and how to do it
before the start of the game.
Take a moment right now and make sure
you have taken time with God today to be prepared for what you will face this
day. When you are obedient to God’s commandments and seek His guidance, He will
lead you in the right way and you will have victory over your challenges.
LEARNING
Our memory verse for this week is found
in Luke 9:23.
And He was saying to them all, “If
anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross
daily and follow Me.”
PRAYER:
Lord keep me faithful each day so that I
take "time out" to spend time reading Your Word and in prayer.
Encourage me so that I will know that this will prepare me for the challenges I
will face each day. Guide me as I teach and prepare my children so that they
may stand strong in these times of great temptation. Help me to get them ready
for the "game of life" so that they may be victorious.
